The first sword upon coming ashore—cut down the one I love. [Please add to your reading list!]

The universe is a prison cage...

Lu Chen recalled that he had once used a similar metaphor. At the time, it was merely to fool Ellie; he didn’t actually believe it. Without a material foundation to rely on, so-called freedom of the soul was nothing but nonsense. That wasn’t true spiritual freedom—it was self-consolation. What else could one do? If you couldn’t pursue material things, at least allow yourself some comfort.

But if you had a choice—

Would you choose freedom of the soul, even if it meant utter poverty? Or would you let yourself be blinded by wealth, let your soul be corroded, and your body imprisoned by a life of drunken luxury? Only material freedom could lead to true freedom of the soul.

Perhaps Scion Star dared to claim the universe was a prison because it was truly advanced.

“So, does that mean Scion Star is the freest planet in the universe?” Lu Chen probed.

The one-eyed woman suddenly pointed to her chest. “I don’t know about freedom, but one thing’s certain: this is the fairest world.”

Lu Chen looked closely. Near her heart, there was a monitoring and explosive device implanted. He turned to observe the shop assistants—all were the same.

A chill ran down Lu Chen’s spine, as if he had stepped into a tightly surveilled pseudo-utopian world, reminiscent of “1984.” Yet something felt off. After all, this was Prison Cage Port, not some ideal haven.

He looked again at the woman before him—the shopkeeper. Rough black robes, a formidable presence, and a spiritual martial cultivation at level thirty-two. She hardly seemed like a native of Scion Star.

Lu Chen probed further. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

The one-eyed shopkeeper sized him up, glanced at the Leonine not far off, but didn’t answer immediately. She began to appraise Lu Chen’s antique devices, calling over two more specialized mechanical sages to help.

With surprise on her face, she studied Lu Chen again. Aside from his handsome features and distinguished aura, she saw no other merit. Glancing at the nearby Leonine, she noted its defensive array upgrade, but it was otherwise a basic starter vessel.

“These artifacts must be ten thousand years old. How did a rookie like you, fresh from the sea, get hold of them?”

Lu Chen waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t ask where I got them. Do you want them or not?”

The shopkeeper puffed on her cigarette, deliberately blowing smoke into Lu Chen’s face. With a professional, condescending air, she began the customary price suppression routine.

“You need to understand—these antiques could be considered relics. They have little practical value and come with great risk. They’re hard to move... You should sell them to an imperial museum, but your provenance is questionable, so you wouldn’t dare, right?”

Lu Chen was tired of these empty words. “Stop haggling. I know Scion Star folk are obsessed with ancient tech. I know the prices. Make your offer. I’m in a hurry!”

The shopkeeper held up one finger. “A thousand spirit stones. Not a coin more.”

Lu Chen spread five fingers. “Five thousand spirit stones. Not a coin less!”

Their hands on their hips, eyes locked, silent amidst swirling smoke, they stared each other down for a full minute.

Lu Chen’s resonance with the world seemed to turn the smoke into ethereal mist. In the end, both yielded a little. The deal closed at two thousand five hundred spirit stones.

Lu Chen felt he’d undersold slightly, but on reflection, these items weren’t so rare. Ten thousand years ago, human fleets traversed the cosmos, conquering and mass-producing ships like dumplings... Nearly every human star system had museums with ancient warships, most intact. Only Scion Star folk cared to tinker with antique devices. Two thousand five hundred was an acceptable price.

Having sold the antiques and pocketed the spirit stones, Lu Chen took out the sword key of the Flying Dragon battleship: the Demon Slayer Sword.

This truly startled the shopkeeper. She took the heavy, handleless blade, carefully caressing its surface, which, after ten thousand years, bore only some oil and grime, but not a hint of rust. The ancient sword patterns were intricate and seemed to conceal profound truths.

She had only seen this in museums, never touched one. The cool touch, the archaic aura... her thoughts drifted back to the pioneering era ten thousand years ago. What a vast, tumultuous universe... and here she was, doing business in this forsaken place!

She leaned in and whispered, “You didn’t rob the Imperial Museum, did you?”

What sort of British behavior was this? Lu Chen shrugged. “What if I did?”

Though tempted by the Demon Slayer Sword, the shopkeeper considered her current status and, after much deliberation, declined. She was no longer who she once was.

“Keep the Demon Slayer Sword for yourself. Scion Star isn’t keen on swordsmanship. Modify the sword patterns and it’ll still be useful. I don’t dare buy it, nor use it. Try listing it on the Dark Web for price and buyers.”

With reluctance, she returned the sword.

Lu Chen put it back in his storage pouch. It seemed the sword would be hard to sell. Perhaps he’d have to use it himself. After all, Ghost Demons were one of the four great calamities of the galaxy, appearing with increasing frequency in recent decades. Carrying a Demon Slayer Sword was always wise.

Especially since the Leonine had a Ghost Demon Cat aboard. And a half-demon—should Gloria ever lose control and become a revenant...

Then Lu Chen would need to banish all thoughts of women, draw his sword with divine resolve, and, with his first strike ashore, sever ties to his beloved.

“Young man, I see you’re a mechanical sage. You didn’t come to Scion Star just to sell equipment, did you? The road ahead for adventurers is long and fraught with danger. A civilian ship won’t get you far.”

“So, your shop does upgrades too?”

The shopkeeper, cigarette dangling, blew smoke in Lu Chen’s face. “Of course. Which place in Prison Cage Port doesn’t do upgrades? It’s Scion Star’s signature business. Otherwise, where do those skyscrapers and ideal worlds behind us come from?”

“You’re determined not to let me leave your shop with a single coin!” Lu Chen joked, then shrugged and walked inside. “Fine, let’s see what gear you have.”

The steel-framed pyramid looked decrepit outside, but the deeper he went, the more futuristic it became. The repair and upgrade workshop was run entirely by robots. Thick, dense mechanical arms hung from the ceiling like octopus tentacles, simultaneously operating dozens of upgrade stations with dazzling speed.

Industrial 10.0, indeed!

This wasn’t standard shipbuilding—no set procedure. Every ship’s repair and upgrade was unique, requiring an extremely precise, high-intelligence control system.

“How about it? Scion Star technology is impressive, isn’t it?”

Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction, for the first time feeling lazy and tempted to try high-tech upgrades.

“I need to install high-power laser weapons and anti-radar stealth devices.”

Considering his imminent advancement to level twenty, he also needed to upgrade his armor engine.

“And I want to fit level-twenty drive engines to my armor.”

“Do you have the parts?”

“No.”

“Then it won’t be cheap.”

The shopkeeper had the workshop chief calculate the price, which came to two thousand five hundred.

Lu Chen’s eye twitched. “What are the odds?”

The shopkeeper puffed away. “Not odds. I think you’re decent, worried you don’t have enough cash, so I gave you a discount. As a mechanical sage, you know the prices.”

Lu Chen’s upgrades genuinely cost about that much.

“Sorry, I can only pay two thousand. If you can’t do it, I’ll upgrade it myself.”

The five hundred spirit stones left would go to resupplying the ship and feeding the gold-devouring beast, Gloria.

“Fine. I’ll do it for no profit. Rare to see a young man so careful with money. Seems the Pangu Corridor adventures are getting harder to turn a profit.”

Thus, in just two hours, the robotic arms completed all upgrades to the Leonine and the armor. In a regular shop, it would have taken a day!

Time meant efficiency—no wonder Scion Star was so advanced, daring to call the universe a prison.

Just before departure, the shopkeeper secretly slipped Lu Chen a note. He waited until the ship left the shop to open it.

Beside him, Gloria assumed it was a date invitation. “Underestimated you. You’re more alluring than I am!”

But Lu Chen frowned. The note clearly said:

“Do not take bounties!”

“Do not take bounties!”

“Do not take bounties!”

——————

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